“If you ask me very honestly, no! The reason why we want to win this Test is that as cricketers we understand how difficult it is to come here and play. Every team that comes here wants to win. What’s gone is not in our control and what will come is not something we need to think. We need to stay in the present. The motivation has never been to change history,” Kohli said during the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

Kohli is in a unique position as the only Indian captain to go into the final Test on the Australian soil with the cushion of a series lead.

“Well, I don’t know because it has been only four years. If it happens it will be great. I have come here the third time on tour and I understand how difficult it is to win here. (It’s) not only your own performance as you can put in your best as an individual but to win as a team has been one of the greatest challenges here,” he said.

“Individual performances are something that honestly you don’t even remember from the last tour. Winning is the most important thing at the end of the day. You might have your name up on the honours board but if your team does not win, it does not really matter. Yes, till now it will be a big, big series win, not just for me but for the whole team because this is the place where we started our transition, this particular venue if when MS (Dhoni) gave up captaincy and we had a totally young side starting at number 6 or 7 in the world. We come back here as the No. 1 Test side in the world and we want to take that legacy forward, and play the kind of cricket we played in this series,” Kohli said.

Editorial team of CricketCountry.

First Published on January 2, 2019 3:57 PM ISTLast updated on January 2, 2019 3:57 PM IST